When I imagined this blog, I thought about a lot of things. Things that make me happy, things that make me sad, things that made me grow and how it has brought me here. So, why are you here? Is it to follow my beautiful family? Not that I would blame you, I do have some pretty amazing kids, but what is the real reason you stopped by here today? Or any day?

I have spent my entire life setting goals and following my dreams, as one should. Something I love to do is educate. I’ve built a career around it, guess what my favorite thing to teach about is, agriculture. As I told y’all before, I grew up on a dairy farm and I loved every minute of it. I also participated in 4-H and raised chickens, goats, pigs, and horses.  I pursued a degree in agriculture because I have such a passion for it. I always told myself I would never work a day in my life if I loved what I did and so far, I have been doing a pretty good job of that, including what I am doing now with this blog.

I am a big advocate for agriculture because well, without it we would be in deep trouble—but also because it is so important to me. In recent years agriculture has been under fire from animal activists, climate specialists, and so much more. I don’t consider myself an expert in any way, but I do have my opinion on the subject, you can do with it what you please.

So, let’s just start at the beginning. Animal treatment. As a farmer or rancher, you have one income, your products. That could be crops or livestock. Either way, that is your income. Now ask yourself this question, do I preform at my best without the things I need? The answer is probably no, right? Do you perform your best when you’re treated badly or in a toxic environment? No again, right? So, why would we expect our animals or crops to do it? The answer is simple, we wouldn’t. My blood boils when I see a video posted on social media or the news talking about a farm who has animal abuse present. One, because I know that is the last thing a farmer wants to see and two, my heart breaks for the animal. I will tell you right now, my family eats meat, but I purchase my meat directly from the source. Where I know how it was treated and I know exactly where it came from. This is where I use those words, support local. I personally think this is the best thing a person can do.

If the pandemic taught us anything it is that we are all more aware of where our food comes from and how highly we rely on imports, even now two years in and there are barges still sitting off the coast of California. Many years ago, we lived a simpler life, where a town was supported by the farms around it and the farms were support by the people of the town. There was no or little to no imports. Do you know, on average, our food travels 1,500 miles from farm to store? That is a lot of miles and a lot of time from being produced to on your family’s table. That’s why when you shop produce it is either over ripe or under ripe. Fruits are often plucked too early to make the journey, why your bananas are green sometimes. The same goes for your meat, its almost always frozen before being cut or served because it travels so far. Think about that the next time you purchase something from the grocery store. I am not saying it is all bad, its not. We enjoy our processed goods; I am not about to turn down an Oreo. 😊 I think as a society we need to focus on what is the best we can do, and my opinion is we should support our local communities and farmers. Not only are you helping your local economy, but you’re also helping that farmer too.

So, you will see me say support local, support sustainable often. Our farmers and ranchers are making strides toward a better way, and I think we can do them all a favor and support their efforts and let them know, it does not go unnoticed.